Monday, August 21, 2017. Mark that date in your calendar, because this is one you don’t want to miss. On August 21, North America will experience a rare and awe-inspiring astronomical event —a solar eclipse. The last time a total solar eclipse spanned across the continent of North America was almost a century ago—June 8, 1918. The most recent total eclipse of the sun that could be viewed from anywhere in America was 38 years ago, February 26, 1979, and was visible in five US states as well as parts of Canada and Greenland. Needless to say, this just doesn’t happen every day.

July 2017. This month, North Americans will be celebrating the birth of their country, their identity as a people and as a nation. From Winnipeg to Washington, D.C., from Calgary to Corpus Christi, from Toronto to Tallahassee, we will watch fireworks and watch parades, we will sing and laugh and make merry. And EAT. Whether your celebration will include barbecue and watermelon, or haddock and butter tarts, there will certainly be some good eats. Join the celebration!

Summer begins on June 20 this year, so this is an excellent time to begin thinking about a summer garden. A garden can transform a drab yard into a showplace. As you think about your garden, take advantage of all the resources available, and plan before you plant.

Did you know that next week, May 7-13, is Drinking Water Week? A week in which we observe the absolute vital role that drinking water plays in our daily lives. A week to celebrate WATER! This year’s theme is “Your water: To know it is to love it!” and it encourages us to get to know more about the water we drink.

1 Trillion Gallons of Water.

Sometimes when we hear numbers that large, it's hard to really conceive of what they mean. How much water is 1 trillion gallons, really? Well, 1 trillion gallons of water is:

the amount of water in about 40 million swimming pools.

the amount of water in about 24 billion baths.

the amount of water in Florida's Lake Okeechobee (669 square miles).

the amount of water used in one year by 11 million homes.

AND . . .

the amount of water wasted every year by household water leaks. Washington Post

That's really an astounding figure. Every year, enough water to serve 11 million homes is needlessly wasted. (EPA ) Down the drain. That leaky faucet or constantly-running toilet is more than just an annoyance; it is wasting water at an alarming rate.

Last month we reported on many positive stories from 2016 —good news that you might not have heard: Desalination plants bringing water to the desert, the elimination of measles in all of the Americas, infant mortality rates decreasing in Russia and life expectancy increasing in Africa. Great strides were made in the areas of world health, conservation, and, not surprisingly, technology. This is certainly an era of astonishing technological advancement; the science fiction of yesteryear is the reality of this year. From smartphones to smart watches to smart homes, technology is changing the way we live. And sometimes in amazing ways . . .

When you read the local paper or watch the nightly broadcast, sometimes it can seem that the only news is bad news. War and terrorism, crime and corruption, natural disasters and terrible accidents. Good news doesn’t seem to be reported as often. But there is a lot of good news out there. There are positive stories, hopeful stories, and they’re all around —in your town, in your neighborhood, and all across the globe.

Just take a look at a few of the stories from 2016 that you might have missed . . .

The holidays are rife with traditions, many of them decades— even centuries— old. Traditions are a link to the past. Tradition means “handed down from one generation to the next.” Traditions remind us that we are not isolated individuals, we do not live in a vacuum; we are part of history, part of culture, part of a family. The holidays themselves are a way of remembering the past, commemorating important events. We set aside a time to remember, to celebrate.

Our holidays, and our holiday traditions, are dear to us. But where do our traditions come from?

By popular demand, we are republishing this article from November 2015.

On November 11 of 1918, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice went into effect, a cessation of hostilities between the Allied Nations and Germany, ending the “war to end all wars.” The official end of World War I would not be declared for seven more months, at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, but the end actually came on that November day, when the truce was signed, the opposing forces laid down their weapons, and the war known as the “Great War” was over.